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December 15, 1999 Appearances
According to the Official Big Country Web Site, Stuart Adamson will be appearing on the television show Ireland A.M. on TV3 at 7:45 a.m. This spot will feature footage from Kosovo and a short interview with Stuart. On the same day the band will be appearing on Open House on RTE at 2:50 p.m. and performing "See You." The date for these appearances is apparently December 16th.

December 3, 1999 Big Country Live in 1999
Big Country live in 1999! In spite of the cancellation of the late November dates with Bryan Adams, it has been confirmed that Big Country will be performing their Driving to Damascus Tour in the UK starting on December 8th and ending on December 31st . Click here or on the logo to the left to access this information.

December 2, 1999 Stuart Adamson Statement
Stuart Adamson From the Official Big Country Web Site comes this information regarding Stuart Adamson and his failure to appear at two performances in late November:

The mystery surrounding Big Country's lead singer Stuart Adamson was resolved early this morning when Stuart issued the following statement.

Speaking from his Nashville home, Stuart confirmed he was safe and well and that the band's forthcoming UK tour was definitely going ahead. He said:

"There have been a lot of changes in my life recently and I've come to realise that the people side of my life is more important than the career side. That is not to say that i don't care about all the people and fans who have loyally supported me over the years. I'm very sorry if I've worried or hurt or disappointed any of them and I truly appreciate all they have done for me. However, I now want to be in a situation where I can be the rock I desire to be for the people I am closest to.

I recently put myself in a situation where i began to understand these things and I needed the time and space to clarify my own mind. It has been, if you like, something of an epiphany.

It is also true to say that I am immensely disillusioned not to have had my music heard, due to circumstances beyond my control, by people who care about it. Consequently, while I am looking forward to our tour and playing to all our fans, this may well be the last time in the UK." — Stuart Adamson

November 25, 1999 November dates with Bryan Adams canceled
Big Country live in 1999! Due to the (hopefully temporary) disappearance of Stuart Adamson, Big Country will not be performing with Bryan Adams on November 25th and 26th in Scotland as previously planned. The band has also canceled an appearance on Children in Need on BBC. There is no indication as to Stuart's whereabouts at this time, but many are quick to point out that he would be traveling during the busiest time of the year in the U.S.—Thanksgiving.

November 12, 1999 Driving to Japan
According to the Official Big Country Web Site, Big Country have signed to the Japanese record label Tricycle Entertainment. The band and its management will arrive in Narita, Japan on November 14th to discuss subjects such as album release dates and touring plans.

November 1, 1999 Stuart Adamson on Radio 2 in the UK
Stuart Adamson From the Official Big Country Web Site: "Stuart Adamson will be featured on Lynn Parsons (Radio 2) tomorrow night (2nd November) at 10.30pm. Playing acoustically, interviewed and album tracks."

October 29, 1999 Purchasing Options for Driving to Damascus
The following list includes on-line sources for ordering the Driving to Damascus album, as well as the "Fragile Thing" and "See You" singles. Numerous direct purchasing links for Driving to Damascus, "Fragile Thing" and "See You" can be found on the Discography pages. Not all stores listed will have all of the material available.

October 25, 1999 "See You/Perfect World" Single Released
"See You" CD single #1 cover The second single from Driving to Damascus, "See You/Perfect World," was released on October 25, 1999 in three formats. The track listing is as follows:

"See You/Perfect World" CD1

  1. See You
  2. Perfect World
  3. This Blood's For You (Rockfield session)

"See You/Perfect World" CD2

  1. See You
  2. Perfect World
  3. Camp Smedley Theme (House in the Woods session)

"See You" 7" vinyl

  1. See You
  2. Perfect World

Short samples of the three songs from the first "See You" single can be found on the Pinnacle Records web site. You will need the latest version of Macromedia's Shockwave to hear these clips.

October 25, 1999 Big Country on Weekend Watchdog
The In the Scud website features video clips of Big Country's appearance on the UK television show Weekend Watchdog on October 22nd, 1999.

September 27, 1999 Driving to Damascus
Driving to Damascus, Big Country's 8th studio album, was released on September 27, 1999 in two formats (regular and limited edition) in the UK. The track listing is as follows:
  1. Driving to Damascus
  2. Dive Into Me
  3. See You
  4. Perfect World
  5. Somebody Else
  6. Fragile Thing
  7. The President Slipped and Fell
  8. Devil in the Eye
  9. Trouble the Waters
  10. Bella
  11. Spirit to Me
  12. Grace
    Limited Edition bonus tracks:
  13. Shattered Cross (with Blue Healer)
  14. Too Many Ghosts (with Blue Healer)

September 18, 1999 Scottish Sunday Mail Article
Big Country's September 12th performance in Kosovo is chronicled in a short article from the September 18th, 1999 issue of the Scottish Sunday Mail.

September 9, 1999 New Internet-Only EP: Bon Apetit! Released Today
Bon Apetit! The Official Big Country Web Site is accepting orders for Bon Apetit!, the second internet-only EP release available only through the official site. The EP was received today by UK residents, thus marking the closest thing to an official release date. The track listing is as follows:
  1. Birmingham
  2. Living By Memory
  3. Don't You Stay
  4. Sun and My Shadow

August 9, 1999 "Fragile Thing" released in the UK
Fragile Thing CD1 "Fragile Thing" (featuring Eddi Reader) was released today in the UK in the following three formats:

"Fragile Thing" CD1

  1. Fragile Thing
  2. I Get Hurt
  3. John Wayne's Dream

"Fragile Thing" CD2

  1. Fragile Thing
  2. Loserville
  3. Dust on the Road

"Fragile Thing" 10" limited edition

  1. Fragile Thing
  2. I Get Hurt
  3. Loserville

August 7, 1999 Stuart & Marcus: Blue Healer
Stuart Adamson According to Tom Kercheval's talks with Stuart on February 14 the Blue Heeler album is completed, and it will most likely appear before the release of the new Big Country album. [NOTE: this looks unlikely to happen as of August 1999.]

Stuart and Marcus have been working in the studio and have completed 12 songs. Performances in 1998 and 1999 include:

DATE VENUE/LOCATION
February 13 Douglas Corner Cafe, Nashville, TN, USA
Set list:" Old Country Country", "Simple Man", "Blue Rose", "Shattered Cross", "Broken Road", "The Travellers", "Private Battlefield", "Stand Up", "Too Many Ghosts", "Learn To Row", "Supernatural" and "In A Big Country."
April 10 Caffe Milano, Nashville, TN, USA
8:30 p.m.
May 31 Borderline, London, UK
With Mark Brzezicki on percussion. Set list: "Old Country", "Simple Man", "Toujours Amour", "Private Battlefield", "Stand Up", "Too Many Ghosts", "Blue Rose", "The Travelers", "Life Is A Church", "Learn To Row", "Supernatural", "Shattered Cross" and "In A Big Country". Click here for a review by Michael Lynd, and here for a review by Oliver Hunter
June 1 Cybar, Brighton, UK
No information available
June 18 Caffe Milano, Nashville, TN, USA
With Keri Evans. 8:30 p.m. $8.95. Click here for a review by Ed Clark.
August 21 Caffe Milano, Nashville, TN, USA
CANCELED
October 24 Caffe Milano, Nashville, TN, USA
CANCELED (This show is now a Marcus Hummon/Red Wing performance)
December 4 Bongo After Hours (Bongo Java), Nashville, TN, USA
Two shows at 8 and 10 p.m. Admission is $8 and there is limited seating. Set list: "Old Country Country", "Shattered Cross", "Supernatural", "Simple Man", "Life Is a Church", "The Travellers", "Stand Up", "Private Battlefield", "Toujours Aime", "My Only Crime", "Learn To Row", "Too Many Ghosts" and "Mexican Trout". Click here for a review by Ed Clark.
January 2, 1999 Caffe Milano, Nashville, TN, USA
8:30 p.m. Set list: "Old Country Country", "Shattered Cross", "Toujours Aime", "Private Battlefield", "Simple Man", "Stand Up", "My Only Crime", "Life is a Church", "Too Many Ghosts", "Blue Rose", "The Travellers", "?", "Supernatural", "?", "In a Big Country." Click here for a review by Kimberly Hansing.
January 30, 1999 Douglas Corner Cafe, Nashville, TN, USA
7:30 p.m. A benefit for Marcus Hummon's musical. Opening acts: Jim Bagby and Bill Feehely. $5 cover charge.
February 13, 1999 Seanachie Irish Pub
Part of a 3-day Celtic celebration.
August 7, 1999 Nashville Unlimited
Blue Healer will appear on the radio program Nashville Unlimited (distributed through NPR) at 7:30 p.m.

As posted to the Big Country Chat Room on April 21 by Kimberleen: … I got to do my interview with Stuart Adamson, just as planned! *wow!* Stuart showed at Channel Eight - our PBS station - at about 7:30. He wasn't due to go on till close to 8, so we sat in the warehouse while he messed with the Stratocaster he would be playing and talked about the tornado, the Skids, how long he's been playing guitar, etc. He was very down-to-earth, very nice. He played an instrumental Celtic song that he had written and that I had seen him perform on Friday the 10th at the Marcus Hummon/Stuart Adamson show at Caffe Milano also here in Nashville…BC is planning a fall US tour (after Europe in the summer) with the Simple Minds. Stuart and Marcus Hummon have decided not to call their effort "Blue Heeler" because apparently another band had started calling themselves that…

As posted to the Big Country Chat Room on April 14, 1998 by Kimberleen: Wow. I actually had new info [on the April 10th performance]. Okay, well, they had a set of about 90 minutes, and it was all original stuff that Marcus Hummon and Stuart Adamson have written here in Nashville over the past year to year and a half. They had a six person set up, including Stuart and Marcus. Stuart played guitar (go figure). Marcus played guitar, keyboards, mandolin, etc. They had a chick violin (fiddle!) player, a man who played the Irish penny whistle and baran (sp?) drums, among other things, a fretless electric bass player and a guy who played a bongo. Now, I know it sounds weird, but the stuff was good. Very adult contemporary with a distinctly Celtic flavor (wonder where that came from). Stuart revealed that his father had been a fisherman, I didn't know that. And the last song of their encore was a very mellow "In a Big Country." Yeah, mellow. I couldn't have imagined it either if I hadn't seen it with my own ears. It was a great set, and I will let you guys know what the name of the new band is when I find it out if you want me to. In an unrelated note, let all of your friends in Middle Tennessee know that Stuart Adamson has agreed to do some charity for WDCN Channel 8, the local PBS station. If all goes according to plan and the guitar comes in from the donor on time, Stuart will be playing a candy-apple red American standard Fender Stratocaster on WDCN on Saturday, April 18 at approximately 8 pm. I will also be doing a 30-second interview so he can update Nashville on what his musical plans are and then he will play a song. (All did go well—click here to see a photo of Stuart warming up for his performance).

March 17, 1999 Article from the March 16th Scottish Daily Express
Stuart Adamson Big Country star's narrow escape from blaze terror
Scottish rock star Stuart Adamson last night spoke of his lucky escape after a chemical-filled building near his home caught fire. The Big Country front man woke in the early hours of Sunday morning to find his flat in Dunfermline, Fife, full of smoke from a blazing photographic shop. Mr Adamson, 40, said: "There was smoke everywhere, it was catching the back of my throat. I had to feel the stairs to make sure they were not hot - I didn't know if there was a fire on the other side. All I could think about was getting out and calling the fire brigade." Fire chiefs yesterday said that the singer and his wife Sandra, 39, were lucky to be alive. They said the couple, who live above the bar they run together, called Tappie Toories, could have been at serious risk from toxic fumes. Fife divisional officer John Turner said "If Mr Adamson hadn't woken up, the smoke would have killed him. There were photographic chemicals in the shop and we had to act quickly to remove them because they were potentially fatal if inhaled. But Mr Adamson was remarkably calm considering his ordeal" The singer was yesterday back in the recording studio to work on the band's latest album. Big Country rose to fame in the 1980's with distinctively Scottish sound and hits like Wonderland and Fields of Fire. They also made history by becoming the first Western Group to tour the former Soviet Union. Click here to see a scan of the actual article.

January 25, 1999 Faster Than the Speed of Sound
Wild Blue Yonder Bruce has released a Wild Blue Yonder EP titled Faster than the Speed of Sound through the Official Big Country Web Site. The price is £8.50 for non-members and £7.65 for members. Currently it is rumored that the existing 7-track mono EP will be replaced by a stereo EP with extra tracks.

January 16, 1999 Big Country In the Scud EP
Stuart Adamson Big Country has released an EP titled In the Scud through the Official Big Country Web Site. The EP contains five demo songs of material that is not expected to appear on the upcoming album. The price is £7.50 for website members and £8.50 for non-members. The EP was mastered at Tony's studio (Great West Records I assume).

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